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AIADMK expels OPS kin, 3 others for meeting Sasikala
“The members violated party principles and brought disrespect to the AIADMK,” the party said in a statement signed by joint coordinator Edappadi Palaniswami and coordinator O Panneerselvam, both former CMs.
Chennai: A day after he met expelled leader V K Sasikala, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) expelled former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam’s brother O Raja from the party on Saturday.
Three other functionaries from Theni district, the home district of Panneerselvam, were also expelled for meeting Sasikala in Thiruchendur on Friday.
“The members violated party principles and brought disrespect to the AIADMK,” the party said in a statement signed by joint coordinator Edappadi Palaniswami and coordinator Panneerselvam.
While this was expected of Palaniswami, who has been stonewalling Sasikala’s re-induction, Panneerselvam expelling his brother for meeting her, even as he has been in favour of her return, has led to confusion in the rank and file in the party that is seeking to set its house in order.
Few leaders but for a close group that acted as an emissary between the two leaders have been kept in the dark.
“OPS has embarrassed himself. He acted without any plan and today he’s had to sacrifice his own brother,” said a leader who is a supporter of Panneerselvam. “He miscalculated that one by one, each district will come in support of uniting with Sasikala, but once again EPS managed to thwart it.”
Raja has been earlier expelled in 2018 for anti-party activities but was reinstated some days later.
On Saturday, Raja refused to be expelled. “Who are they to expel me?” Raja asked at a media briefing in Theni.
He has been in the party since the days of the founder M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, Raja said. When he interacted with Sasikala on Thursday, Raja had conveyed to her that they should bring back Amma’s (Jayalalithaa) rule, he said.
“For that chinamma (Sasikala) has to take over the party,” he said. Raja also ridiculed the dual leadership, saying that they have expelled him as though he met another party’s leader.
The AIADMK’s loss in the urban local body polls held in February is its fourth electoral defeat since Jayalalithaa died in December 2016 and since Palaniswami and Panneerselvam jointly ran the party while Sasikala was in prison.
This loss and their ally Bharatiya Janata Party’s growth in the civic polls has reignited the call for a unified party with a section supporting Sasikala’s return. This section is largely from Panneerselvam’s camp, as he and Sasikala belong to the same Thevar community.
Sasikala on Friday began a two-day tour of southern districts in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts, which is turning into a pilgrimage cum political tour. She received a rousing reception, with supporters waving AIADMK flags.
Sasikala has recently remarked that the AIADMK had never faced so many electoral defeats in its 50-year history and called for a united party. Raja met her at a hotel in Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi. Raja had also attended the wedding of Sasikala’s nephew and Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam founder TTV Dhinakaran’s daughter.
As Palanswami has solidified his position as the numero uno of the party and Panneerselvam has been side-lined, the latter has often used the Sasikala trump card before the duo struck peace. On March 2, Panneerselvam held a meeting at his Theni residence, which was viewed as bringing Sasikala’s supporters together.
On the same night, AIADMK’s Theni district secretary Syed Khan handed over their unit’s resolution to Panneerselvam, asking the party high command to bring back everyone who left after the death of Jayalalithaa, including Sasikala and Dhinakaran.
Dhinakaran, who leads the breakaway faction of AMMK, said that he can comment only if the AIADMK unitedly decides to take them back in.
On Saturday, the AIADMK also expelled 33 other functionaries in Theni district for supporting DMK candidates in the urban local body elections.
